Are your children excited about school or do you find school time is a chore? My son is not excited about certain topics. I'm sure that's normal. It may be the curriculum I am not sure. But I hope that hs in general is not going to be a daily chore. I feel so excited about the time and effort I put into lessons and sometimes little dude's mood can really bring me down.
ds 18yo Sr.=Let's just get it done! ds 13 yo 7th=a HUGE chore everyday after the first day of school! ds 4.5yo PreK="Can we please start today, Mommy?"
Depends on the day. And the kid. There are certain subjects that often give us trouble, but for the most part my kids are fairly cooperative. I think it's to be expected when their least favorite subjects come up - but, they SHOULD know math....and sometimes it just isn't fun.
First off, I tend to take myself and my students seriously. I treat my students like people first and foremost. I talk to them straight. I dont have the disposition for too much nonsense or unruliness. Second, to answer your question: I and my students enjoy our school time, but school time is very short and the time varies day to day and I have been trying to let 6yo have more independence in choosing WHEN he does the lesson. If he waits too long, then I pick the time and he just has to deal. 6yo is enjoying it more and more as we go but recently its become more of a strain on me because 6yo wants to read at the most inconvenient time, but so far I have never refused him. When he asks to do phonics, we do phonics. When he wants to be read to, I read to him. Period. Until we finish TRL, I hope I never have to refuse him. Right now, we only do Phonics with occasional math or counting exercises thrown in to boot, but in the fall we'll have more subjects (not sure how many just yet...) 6yo wants to do other subjects but hasn't made up his mind WHICH other subjects, I know I'll have to adapt whatever it is to be super hands on, or he'll probably wind up bored and hating it. But, as I said, I take my students and myself seriously. I treat them with respect and demand that they treat me and one another with respect. I apologze when I was wrong, I share my day with them, and tell 6yo when I remembered some advice he gave me and how it helped me, or when I applied some lecture I'm always giving HIM to myself. (like not making jokes about other people.) I talk with 6yo and 4yo and I listen to their input as much as I can, I told 6yo that he HAD to learn to read, like it or not this year. I told him that he was capable and that reading is something we have to learn. Like potty training, washing dishes, cooking food, etc. I told them we would work together and I would keep the lessons short and install some fun whenever I could. I also told them I wouldn't tolerate a bunch of nonsense, because it was a waste of time and energy for both of us. You may be doing too much or pushing too hard. You may need to let your son know that this is his school and he's to take it serious. Period. If he's old enough that you are legally accountable, then simplify starting now and be straightforward but open with him. Pick a 1 or 2 subject daily core and alternate the rest as much as possible on changing days as he eases into the routine. If your not legally accountable just yet, then prepare him for the real work of school slowly. We started in January learning names and sounds of letters, but took a long break in between. We started back seriously only some weeks ago, but the rate of progress has been amazing. In the early days, an ebb and flow approach worked well for us, because I'm not able to be on the boys full time with their work and I took 7 classes in the Spring so...yeah. School needn't be torture, but it need'nt be gum drops and rainbows either. Both you and your students need to ease yourselves into the reality of the HS life...
Tuzor, I have days when I d'wanna do school either! or don't want to tackle a particular subject. So surely the kids will have days like that too. Try following a tough subject with a more fun one, planning a field trip or a "video/virtual field trip", take "PE breaks" to get the energy out... Not everything will be fun, and you should be honest with him about that, but if we concentrate on the hard stuff and get it learned, then we can get on to the more fun stuff.
It goes back and forth. Lately, it's been pulling teeth, and I was wondering how much more I could take...today, they were all done by 9:30 this morning. I had to check the clock twice. I couldn't believe it. It was 2:00 on Monday before my 7yo finally finished. Same amount of work, same planet, different day.
Let's just say that my 8 year old has been working on his math for an hour and a half. It's all review, he knows how to do it all, he is just being very easily distracted.
Depends on the day! My ds (10) is never excited about school...no matter what! lol. My dd (12) is sometimes excited but really just wants to gain knowledge quickly and efficiently. She seems to think the faster she gains knowledge the faster she will grow up. her goal is to get a scholarship. Nice right? Except her primary goal is to marry a football player on his way to the NFL who goes on win the super bowl so she can wear the ring. lol My dd (5): depends on the day My dd (2): Well...she doesn't do school but she enjoys watching and destroying whenever possible.
They are excited about what interests them. But if they could choose they would spend their day playing video games. I try to make the things they don't like more interesting, but it doesn't always work. As my dh says to them "would you like some cheese with that whine?"
ds - 15 yo - hates school - all days are difficult dd - 6 yo - loves school - works hard every day and likes to rub it in to her brother.
I think when you teach with enthusiasm it's contagious. That said I can't get revved over math. Luckily my son loves math and he is doing fine there. I am hoping my daughter will look up to her brother enough to want to be like him and like math also Some days are hard to get the focus, perhaps he has some unidentified issue, I don't like to label I just think it is him and his mind is reallllllllly busy. And some days my daughter who is five just hasn't reached that desire to learn stage. I agree with the poster who said she talks to her students like adults. I tell them they need to learn this subject and that it may not seem like they need it or it may be dull but perhaps one day when they have kids of their own they will be glad they learned ---to pass it on. That explanation makes sense for them now as they both want kids -northernmomma
